(Vatican Radio) The Director of the Press Office of the Holy See, Fr. Federico Lombardi, SJ, has issued a statement communicating the Holy Father's prayerful concern over the violence raging in Iraq, and especially for the Christians affected by the violence. In the statement, Fr. Lombardi says, "The Holy Father is following with deep concern the dramatic news reports coming from northern Iraq, which involve defenseless populations. Christian communities are particularly affected: a people fleeing from their villages because of the violence that rages in these days, wreaking havoc on the entire region."
The statement goes on to say, "The Holy Father renews his spiritual closeness to all those who are suffering through this painful trial, and makes the impassioned appeals of the local bishops his own, asking together with them in behalf of their sorely tried communities, that the whole Church and all the faithful raise up with one voice a ceaseless prayer, imploring the Holy Spirit to send the gift of peace." Please find the full text of the statmeent in English, below. ******************************************************* Statement of Fr Federico Lombardi SJ regarding the situation of Christians in Iraq The Holy Father is following with deep concern the dramatic news reports coming from northern Iraq, which involve defenseless populations. Christian communities are particularly affected: a people fleeing from their villages because of the violence that rages in these days, wreaking havoc on the entire region. At the Angelus prayer on July 20th, Pope Francis cried with pain: “[O]ur brothers and sisters are persecuted, they are pushed out, forced to leave their homes without the opportunity to take anything with them.
To these families and to these people I would like to express my closeness and my steadfast prayer. Dearest brothers and sisters so persecuted, I know how much you suffer, I know that you are deprived of everything. I am with you in your faith in Him who conquered evil!” In light of these terrible developments, the Holy Father renews his spiritual closeness to all those who are suffering through this painful trial, and makes the impassioned appeals of the local bishops his own, asking together with them in behalf of their sorely tried communities, that the whole Church and all the faithful raise up with one voice a ceaseless prayer, imploring the Holy Spirit to send the gift of peace. His Holiness urgently calls on the international community to protect all those affected or threatened by the violence, and to guarantee all necessary assistance – especially the most urgently needed aid – to the great multitude of people who have been driven from their homes, whose fate depends entirely on the solidarity of others.
The Pope also appeals to the conscience of all people, and to each and every believer he repeats: “May the God of peace create in all an authentic desire for dialogue and reconciliation. Violence is not conquered with violence. Violence is conquered with peace! Let us pray in silence, asking for peace; everyone, in silence.... Mary Queen of peace, pray for us! (Angelus, July 20, 2014)”

2014

Novena to Saint Cajetan Patron of the Unemployed. This Priest founded a bank to help the poor and offer an alternative to usurers (loan sharks). It later became the Bank of Naples. His concern for the unemployed, giving them the necessary financial help in their time of need, made him their patron. His feast is celebrated on August 7. Daily Prayer O glorious St. Cajetan, you studied to be a lawyer, but when you felt that the Lord was calling you to his service, you abandoned everything and became a priest. You excelled in virtues, shunning all material rewards for your labor, helping the many unemployed people of your time. You provided loans without interest and you attracted a lot of benefactors who donated to your resources so that you could go on with your activities. Look on us with mercy. We wish to find employment that could help us and our families live with dignity. Listen to our petitions, dear saint; you, who could easily give up the food on your table for the needy, bring our petitions to Jesus (here make your request). Amen. First Day You were a model of virtue among the priests of your time, O St. Cajetan. You sought not to receive payments from your ministry, and you taught people how to pray the rosary and develop devotions to saints. You were truly a spiritual shepherd, and your concern was always focused on the salvation of souls. But despite this, you were also aware that with hungry stomachs, the faithful would have difficulty in understanding God’s Word. You embarked to help them, not just by giving them bread but helping them gain their living by work. Look on us with pity, O glorious saint. We have many unemployed people in our midst and their families go hungry. We ask you to guide the fathers and mothers who are looking for work. Amen. Daily Prayer (3) Our Father, (3) Hail Mary, (3) Glory Be (3) St. Cajetan, pray for us.Second Day Despite your busy schedule, dear saint, you spent eight hours a day in prayer. Your happiness consists in being united with Jesus, to savor his presence in the Eucharist. Guide us to be like you by giving priority to prayer in our life. Enable us to savor Jesus’ presence and help us become contemplatives like you. Inspire us to understand that prayer is not just asking Jesus for our needs, but being with him, delighting in his presence. We ask you, dear saint, to lead us in this direction that we may learn to delight in Jesus’ presence. Amen. Daily Prayer (3) Our Father, (3) Hail Mary, (3) Glory Be (3) St. Cajetan, pray for us. Third Day Since your death, dear St. Cajetan, the unemployed people of the world had sought your intercession. Work is the key to a happy life. Look with pity on the millions of people in our country who wake up each morning without certainty of finding food because they don’t have work. These people become victims of desperation and some even resort to crimes to survive. Help our government leaders formulate policies that will bring about employment. You who established a bank for the needy inspire our leaders to extend loans for the poor so that they may provide for the needs of their families. Amen. Daily Prayer (3) Our Father, (3) Hail Mary, (3) Glory Be (3) St. Cajetan, pray for us. Fourth Day O glorious St. Cajetan, like the society where you lived, we are also beset by the same economic set up where the poor are becoming poorer and the rich, richer. You fasted so that the money you saved could be used to buy food for the poor, you did not accept any payment for your ministries because you wanted people to help the needy. You lived very frugally because you wanted to teach the rich about the need to share. Look with pity on our society where resources are wasted in buying useless goods, while the poor and the needy among us have not received the basic necessities. Inspire us to share that nobody among us would go hungry, and that everybody may live with dignity. Amen. Daily Prayer (3) Our Father, (3) Hail Mary, (3) Glory Be (3) St. Cajetan, pray for us. Fifth Day O glorious St. Cajetan, you spent long hours helping the sick and worked yourself to exhaustion in helping victims of plagues which were frequent in your time. You cared for the sick not just to heal them, but to guide them to a happy death. You wanted their souls, not their bodies. Help us to understand that we have to prepare ourselves to a happy death. May we likewise see that the most terrible sickness is our sinfulness, and we always have to examine ourselves for the sins we commit daily. Inspire us to have repentant hearts that we may always be prepared to meet the Lord. Amen. Daily Prayer (3) Our Father, (3) Hail Mary, (3) Glory Be (3) St. Cajetan, pray for us. Sixth Day O humble St. Cajetan, you spoke with rulers and kings, but you never gave them much importance. You know that prestige, honor, and positions in society could only be good if they are use to help the needy and the poor. For this reason, you also confronted tyrants and stood against armies that looted, killed, and raped. Your humility did not prevent you from becoming a prophet. You only feared Jesus. Help us to remain humble and self-effacing, knowing that before God, we remain nothing. We can only be someone if we stand close to Jesus. Inspire us to follow your footsteps so that we, too, may fight for justice and help stop corruption in our government. Amen. Daily Prayer (3) Our Father, (3) Hail Mary, (3) Glory Be (3) St. Cajetan, pray for us. Seventh Day O glorious St. Cajetan, your unceasing fasting and penance help people understand that God must be loved above all things and above all persons. You sacrificed anything or anyone that could block you from loving God with your whole soul, mind, heart and body. By eating little, you showed to others that man does not live on bread alone. You renewed the faith of many people, touched their hearts, and helped much in the reformation of the Church. Inspire us to fast and do penance for our sins. Instill on us the spirit of sacrifice that we, too, may love God intensely as you did. Amen. Daily Prayer (3) Our Father, (3) Hail Mary, (3) Glory Be (3) St. Cajetan, pray for us. Eight Day O glorious St. Cajetan, it pained you to see the Catholic Church divided into hostile groups. You always prayed for unity in the Church, asking laypersons, priests, and bishops to support the Pope through preaching, prayer, and sacrifices. You see the Church as the bride of Christ, the sacrament by which men and women can become holy. You worked hard for the return of the Protestants to the Catholic Church, and you preached against Protestant reformers who were attacking the heart of Catholic teachings. Teach us then to work for unity in our Church and at the same time, to defend her from sects and religious movements that attack her. Inspire us to follow your path. Amen. Daily Prayer (3) Our Father, (3) Hail Mary, (3) Glory Be (3) St. Cajetan, pray for us.Ninth Day O glorious St. Cajetan, you received many special blessings from Jesus, visions and mystical experiences because of your union with him. While contemplating the mystery of incarnation, Mary appeared to you and put on your lap the baby Jesus. You held on to the baby and made your heart his dwelling place. Jesus truly loved you and his Mother trusted you. Listen then to our petitions on this last day of our novena and bring them to Jesus. Prove to us that now in heaven you are closer to Jesus and he listens to you. Amen. Daily Prayer (3) Our Father, (3) Hail Mary, (3) Glory Be (3) St. Cajetan, pray for us. For all the unemployed -- even if you aren't Catholic -- I would encourage you to say this prayer for nine days.OUR FATHER Our Father, Who art in Heaven, hallowed be Thy Name. Thy Kingdom come. Thy Will be done, on earth, as it is in Heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us; and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. Amen. HAIL MARY Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now, and at the hour of our death. Amen. GLORY BE Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis has sent greetings and encouragement to the Knights of Columbus who are currently holding their 132nd Supreme Convention in Orlando, Florida, in the United States. In a message, signed by the Vatican’s Secretary of State, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Pope says the meeting’s theme of ‘Our Vocation to Fraternity’ is especially important since “the Church is called to be a community of brothers and sisters who accept and care for one another” thus serving as “a leaven of reconciliation and unity for the whole human family.”Recalling the vision of Fr Michael McGivney who founded the Knights of Columbus in the late nineteenth century, Pope Francis encourages members of the order today to continue drawing inspiration from Christ’s example in order to reach out to others, especially the poor and disadvantaged. (Image Source Knights of Columbus)

The Pope also thanks the knights for their efforts to defend the role of religion in the public square and to encourage lay people in their mission of shaping a society that reflects true Christian values. Pope Francis praises the order for its commitment to educating people in the faith and in a strong sense of civic responsibility. Finally he thanks the knights for their support of the forthcoming Synod of Bishops on the Family, to be held in the Vatican in October, and the World Meeting of Families which will take place next year in Philadelphia

Please find below the full text of the Pope’s message to the Knights of Columbus

From the Vatican, 28 July 2014

His Holiness Pope Francis was pleased to learn that from 5 to 7 August 2014 the 132nd Supreme Convention of the Knights of Columbus will be held in Orlando, Florida. He has asked me to convey his warm greetings to all those in attendance, together with the assurance of his closeness in prayer.

The theme of this year’s Supreme Convention - You Will All Be Brothers: Our Vocation to Fraternity - is one particularly close to the Holy Father’s heart. Faith teaches us that, created in the image and likeness of the triune God and redeemed by Christ’s sacrifice of atonement, the Church is called to be a community of brothers and sisters who accept and care for one another and serve as a leaven of reconciliation and unity for the whole human family. In the complex social and ecclesial situation of late nineteenth century America, this vocation found particular expression in principles of faith, fraternity and service which guided the establishment of the Knights of Columbus. The fidelity of the Knights to these high ideals has not only ensured the continued vitality of your Order, but has also contributed, and continues to contribute, to the mission of the Church at every level and, in particular, to the universal ministry of the Apostolic See. For this, His Holiness is profoundly grateful.

Just as faith is shaped by charity and bears fruit in good works, so the fraternal spirit inculcated by Father Michael McGivney and the first Knights of Columbus continues to be fruitful in the numerous charitable activities of the local Councils which, while meeting the needs of individuals, also build up communities in solidarity and concern for the common good. Conscious of the sacrifice which this great outpouring of charity entails, His Holiness is confident that the Knights will continue to draw inspiration from the teaching and example of Christ in order to reach out to others, especially the poor and disadvantaged, with heartfelt empathy. If service is the soul of that fraternity which builds up peace (Message for the 2014 World Day of Peace, 10), then every charitable work carried out by your Order should be a reflection of the love of Christ, alive and at work in the communion of his body, the Church. By dwelling in that love, we come to see those whom we serve as brothers and sisters; we respect their innate dignity, and we venerate Jesus present in them (cf. Mt 25:40). Jesus assures us that in giving we also receive (cf. Lk 6:38); our works of charity thus become a source of spiritual enrichment, for they open our hearts to a transforming encounter with the Lord.

As the distinguished history of your Order clearly shows, the call to fraternity also finds fruitful expression in the virtue of patriotism and in an active commitment to the growth of an ever more harmonious and just society. His Holiness is grateful for the active role played by the Knights to resist efforts to restrict religion to the purely personal sphere, to defend its proper place in the public square and to encourage the lay faithful in their mission of shaping a society which reflects the truth of Christ and the values of his Kingdom. As he made clear in his Apostolic Exhortation Evangelii Gaudium, “the earth is our common home, and all of us are brothers and sisters”; consequently, “no one can demand that religion should be relegated to the inner sanctum of personal life, without influence on societal or national life, without concern for the soundness of civil institutions, without a right to offer an opinion on events affecting society” (No. 183).

Of particular concern in this regard are the well-known and growing threats to the integrity of marriage and the family. These call not only for vigilance and a consistent public witness, but also for convincing presentations of Christian moral teaching in the light of a sound anthropological vision centered on human dignity and the correct use of our God-given freedom. The Holy Father is grateful for the efforts of your Order to provide its members with ongoing instruction in the faith and to instill a strong sense of civic responsibility. He is likewise appreciative of the support which the Knights have given to such important ecclesial initiatives as the forthcoming Assemblies of the Synod of Bishops, which will treat pastoral challenges facing the family, and the World Meeting of Families to be held next year in Philadelphia. For the family is the ultimate teacher of that fraternity which unites and builds society on the firm foundations of mutual respect, justice, mercy and truth.

With these sentiments His Holiness commends the deliberations of the 132nd Supreme Convention to the loving prayers of Mary, Mother of the Church. Assuring the members of the Supreme Council, and all the Knights and their families, of a grateful remembrance in his prayers, he cordially imparts his Apostolic Blessing as a pledge of joy and peace in our Lord Jesus Christ.

Edited from CN: The son of Hamas leader, Sheikh Hassan Yousef has converted to Christianity.

Mosab Hassan Yousef was a guest on CNN , he was interviewed by Don Lemon.“Hamas does not care about the lives of Palestinians, or the lives of Israelis or Americans,” he said. “They don’t care about their own lives. They consider dying for their ideology a way of worship. So, how can you continue in that society?”
“Can you coexist with someone whose mission is your destruction?” Lemon asked Yousef.
“Hamas is not seeking coexistence and compromise,” Yousef replied. “Hamas is seeking conquest and taking over.” “[The] destruction of the state of Israel is not Hamas’ final destination,” he continued. “Hamas’ final destination is building the Islamic khilafah (caliphate), which means an Islamic state under the rubble of every other civilization. These are the ultimate goals of the movement.” Yousef, the author of Son of Hamas, was then asked to tell about the Hamas that he had come to know growing up, as he had outlined in his book that Hamas targets civilians as a tool of war. “In the mosques, Hamas told us that without shedding innocent blood for the sake of the ideology, we won’t be able to build an Islamic state,” he said. “They were preparing us from … as young as five years old.” “And honestly, it’s impossible almost for anybody to break through and see the truth of the real face of Hamas and be able to leave at some point,” Yousef noted. “As you see in my case, I had to lose everything just to say no to Hamas, and today, when I look at the children of Gaza, I know what they are being fed and I know they have no choice.” Yousef, who was born in Ramallah—just north of Jerusalem—met a British missionary in 1999, who witnessed to him about Christ. During this time, he was working to provide intelligence to Israel about Hamas activities and was soon disowned by his father. Yousef began to profess faith in Christ and was baptized in Tel Aviv in 2005. He moved to the United States two years later and sought political asylum, fearing for his life. In the meantime, Yousef penned the book Son of Hamas to detail his personal story and his rejection of Islam. He was granted asylum in 2010 after originally facing deportation over concerns that he had been involved in terrorist activity. But when friend Gonen Ben-Itzhak testified that Yousef worked to thwart terrorist attacks and save lives, the immigration courts allowed him to stay. Yousef shared his testimony in an online letter addressed to Walid Shoebat.
“I come from a deep Islamic heritage, from a family that practices, teaches, and spreads Islam. I am a Palestinian who spent several years in Israeli jails, who was tortured and beaten almost to death by angry Israeli soldiers. Yet, Christ pursued me until I ‘found Him’ and accepted His challenge to forgive and love my enemies,” he wrote. But Yousef said that he faced rejection from those who doubted him—including Christians. “I had no one to share the victories, miracles, and heartbreaks with except my Jesus. Alone with Jesus behind closed doors,” he stated. “[M]y reputation is torn apart everyday by one side that hates me because they think I am a Zionist and the other side that hates me because they think I am a Palestinian extremist. I am neither. I try to love all people without expecting anything from anyone, the way the Lord Jesus Christ loves me.” “We live in a world that is full of deception, doubt, fear and hopelessness. People have enough bad news. They need hope and love,” Yousef stated. “And our duty to our people in Israel, the Palestinian territories, and the rest of the world is to show them Christ’s love and give them His hope.” Yousef attends Barabbas Road Church in San Diego, California. (Edited from ChristianNewsNet/CNN)

Thursday of the Eighteenth Week in Ordinary TimeLectionary: 410

Reading 1JER 31:31-34

The days are coming, says the LORD,when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israeland the house of Judah.It will not be like the covenant I made with their fathers:the day I took them by the handto lead them forth from the land of Egypt;for they broke my covenant,and I had to show myself their master, says the LORD.But this is the covenant that I will makewith the house of Israel after those days, says the LORD.I will place my law within them, and write it upon their hearts;I will be their God, and they shall be my people.No longer will they have need to teach their friends and relativeshow to know the LORD.All, from least to greatest, shall know me, says the LORD,for I will forgive their evildoing and remember their sin no more.

Responsorial Psalm PS 51:12-13, 14-15, 18-19

R. (12a) Create a clean heart in me, O God.A clean heart create for me, O God,and a steadfast spirit renew within me.Cast me not out from your presence,and your Holy Spirit take not from me.R. Create a clean heart in me, O God.Give me back the joy of your salvation,and a willing spirit sustain in me.I will teach transgressors your ways,and sinners shall return to you.R. Create a clean heart in me, O God.For you are not pleased with sacrifices;should I offer a burnt offering, you would not accept it.My sacrifice, O God, is a contrite spirit;a heart contrite and humbled, O God, you will not spurn.R. Create a clean heart in me, O God.

Gospel MT 16:13-23

Jesus went into the region of Caesarea Philippiand he asked his disciples,“Who do people say that the Son of Man is?”They replied, “Some say John the Baptist, others Elijah,still others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.”He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?”Simon Peter said in reply,“You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”Jesus said to him in reply, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah.For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my heavenly Father.And so I say to you, you are Peter,and upon this rock I will build my Church,and the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against it.I will give you the keys to the Kingdom of heaven.Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven;and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.”Then he strictly ordered his disciplesto tell no one that he was the Christ.

From that time on, Jesus began to show his disciplesthat he must go to Jerusalem and suffer greatlyfrom the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes,and be killed and on the third day be raised.Then Peter took Jesus aside and began to rebuke him,“God forbid, Lord! No such thing shall ever happen to you.”He turned and said to Peter,“Get behind me, Satan! You are an obstacle to me.You are thinking not as God does, but as human beings do.”

Fr Sheehy was born in Kilcara, Duagh, Kilmorna Ireland on 29 August 1927. He studied for the priesthood at St Patrick’s College, Carlow, as a student for the Archdiocese of Melbourne and was ordained by Archbishop Keogh on 6 June 1954 in the Cathedral of the Assumption, Carlow.On 20 December 1954 the young Fr Sheehy received a letter advising him that he was to commence his supply in the parish of St. John’s, East Melbourne ‘over Christmas and the New Year’. In January 1955 Fr Sheehy received his first appointment as Assistant Priest in Northcote followed by appointments to Kyneton (1958), Kew (1965), St. Kilda West (1967), Preston East (1967), then as Parish Priest of Healesville (1969), Heidelberg (1971) and Doncaster 5 May 1979 until his retirement 22 July 2009.One of his referees writing to Monsignor Fox VG in 1949 described Michael Sheehy as coming from an ‘excellent farming family’ and it would seem Fr Mick never lost his love of the land. His days in the parish of Kyneton allowed him once again to place his hands in the soil and he was known to have raised a sheep or two.He was in many ways the ‘farmer of faith’ in all the parishes he served. He was a kind, diligent, encouraging and good pastor to his people. He was also entrepreneurial and able to achieve great things with his people. The Church of St Gregory the Great itself is a reflection of how Fr Sheehy was able to fashion in bricks and mortar a place of beauty where God’s people could bring their joys, hopes and suffering before the God who is the source of all beauty. His evident love of liturgy, prayerfulness and generous service to the people of Doncaster for over thirty years were acknowledged by many as he entered retirement to Justin Villa in 2009 and later to the care of Nazareth House.We join in thanking God for Fr Sheehy and for his sixty years of priestly witness and service to the priests and people of the Archdiocese. We remember with gratitude all those who left Ireland with hearts of faith to tend the fields of Melbourne.May the Good Shepherd lead him gently into paradise.May he rest in peace.Hear with favour our prayers, which we humbly offer, O Lord,For the salvation of the soul of Fr Michael Sheehy, your servant and priest,That he, who devoted a faithful ministry to your name,May rejoice in the perpetual company of your Saints.

Founder of the Theatines, born October, 1480 at Vicenza in Venetian territory; died at Naples in 1547. Under the care of a pious mother he passed a studious and exemplary youth, and took his degree as doctor utriusque juris at Padua in his twenty-fourth year. In 1506 he became at Rome a prothonotary Apostolic in the court of Julius II, and took an important share in reconciling the Republic of Venice with that pontiff. On the death of Julius in 1523 he withdrew from the court, and is credited with founding, shortly after, an association of pious priests and prelates called the Oratory of Divine Love, which spread to other Italian towns. Though remarkable for his intense love of God, he did not advance to the priesthood till 1516. Recalled to Vicenza in the following year by the death of his mother, he founded there a hospital for incurables, thus giving proof of the active charity that filled his whole life. But his zeal was more deeply moved by the spiritual diseases that, in those days of political disorder, infected the clergy of all ranks, and, like St. Augustine in earlier times, he strove to reform them by instituting a body of regular clergy, who should combine the spirit of monasticism with the exercises of the active ministry.

Returning to Rome in 1523 he laid the foundations of his new congregation, which was canonically erected by Clement VII in 1524. One of his four companions was Giovanni Pietro Caraffa, Bishop of Chieti (in Latin Theate), afterwards Paul IV, who was elected first superior, and from whose title arose the name Theatines. The order grew but slowly. During the sack of Rome in 1527 the Theatines, then twelve in number, escaped to Venice after enduring many outrages from the heretic invaders. There Cajetan met St. Hieronymus Æmiliani (see SOMASCHI), whom he assisted in the establishment of his Congregation of Clerks Regular. In 1533 Cajetan founded a house in Naples, where he was able to check the advances of Lutheranism. In 1540 he was again at Venice, whence he extended his work to Verona and Vicenza. He passed the last four years of his life, a sort of seraphic existence, at Naples where he died finally of grief at the discords of the city, suffering in his last moments a kind of mystical crucifixion. He was beatified by Urban VIII in 1629, and canonized by Clement X in 1671. His feast is kept on the 7th of August.